New traffic signals lighting up in Encinitas

ENCINITAS - Before long, motorists on El Camino Real will have
two more reasons to tap the brakes.

And that's not all bad, say some residents who think new traffic
lights will improve safety.

Workers are installing signals at two cross streets, Crest Drive
and Willowspring Drive. A city traffic engineer said Tuesday he
expects the signals to be activated by Thanksgiving.

The intersections are one block apart and about two blocks south
of the major, four-way intersection at Encinitas Boulevard.

The new signals will join 10 others controlling traffic on
Encinitas' busiest surface street. El Camino Real cuts a wide,
north-south path through most of North County. In Encinitas, one
segment of the thoroughfare has eight lanes and carries more than
40,000 cars daily.

In 2005, a Carlsbad woman was killed at the Crest intersection
as she attempted to drive across El Camino Real, which is six lanes
wide at that point.

The new signal at that intersection is just for pedestrians and
will be activated by pushing a button at the sidewalk.

A raised median also is being built there that will block
through traffic and eliminate left turns from Crest onto the
thoroughfare. The median also will provide a safe haven for
pedestrians, said Rob Blough, traffic engineer.

Some nearby residents said Tuesday that the signals will improve
safety for pedestrians and motorists alike. They said the
improvements have been a long time coming. Other residents said
converting the intersection at Crest into one for pedestrians only
was a waste of money that could be better spent making other
streets safer.

Dana Lopez of Crest Drive noted that pedestrians can cross El
Camino Real safely just by walking one block to the north, to the
crosswalk and traffic signal at the LA Fitness shopping center.

She said she expects jaywalking to persist.

"I don't think (pedestrians) are going to wait for their light
to turn green," she said. "I think there's better places to spend
the money, like on sidewalks around schools."

Another resident, Lyss Murphey, said he has seen many
pedestrians stranded in the middle of El Camino Real and that he
has considered the Crest intersection a disaster waiting to
happen.

"I think it's a positive development and will definitely save
lives," Murphey said.